Together Forever
by Nya-Nyan13
Summary: What if, Mary never remembered the gallery? What if she remembered nothing but Ib remembered everything? Based on the Together Forever ending. My very first fanfic, I do not own the game Ib although I wish I did.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_She's behind me._ Ib thinks as she writes in her notebook. She's right behind me, smiling at me. As Ib writes, the words get darker and thicker on the paper, slowly becoming more scratchy and boyish instead if Ib's italic penmanship.

_Just ignore her, she will leave eventually._

Ib could no longer call her handwriting her own as they words became choppy and pressed together becoming harder and harder to read.

_She's not leaving, why is she not leaving?_

Ib gritted her teeth as she continued to write, ignoring the presence behind her. The words were now uncomprehendable but she kept on writing. Her distraction was soon put to a halt when she heard the pencil snap. She reached for her small pencil sharpener only to realize that the point was still in tact but the pencil was sapped into two. Slowly, Ib took a shallow, shaky breath and turned around to see blue eyes looking at her.

"Ib! Wanna play outside? Dad just added that new swing outside in the courtyard." Mary asked, her blue eyes twinkling as they met with Ib's crimson ones, unable to see the anger and sadness hidden throughout the red.

"Can't, busy." Ib said through gritted teeth, walking around Mary and to the cabinet where they stored all of the craft supplies. She grabbed to pencils before stiffly walking back to her desk and resuming to write.

"Why not?" Mary said, slightly pouting as she moved to the side of Ib's desk slightly shifting her weight between one foot to the other.

"Like I said, I'm busy." Ib explained as she began writing again. The words were comprehendable now but still nothing like the italics Ib normally did. Mary suddenly took the book from Ib and held it up. "Mary!" Ib exclaimed in shock and anger.

"What are you writing about anyway?" Mary asked as she began to read the page Ib was on.

"April 29,

I am beginning to think she doesn't remember anything that happened in the-Hey!" Mary yelled as Ib swiped the journal back from her.

"Never read this!" Ib yelled at the eight year old, "You are never aloud to look at this!" Ib could feel the anger that she kept for so long rise inside her. She had to compose herself. Ib silently counted to ten in her head as Mary recovered from Ib's outburst.

"Sorry, Ib. I won't look through it again, but who were you talking about? And what doesn't ah remember?" Mary asked. Her questions were ignored as Ib shoved her out the door making Mary tumble out into the hall. Mary, now in a bundled heap of her green dress and wild blonde curls was shocked.

"Ib!" She yelled only to find her sisters door shut and locked. Separating her and the nine year old still in her room. Stunned and hurt, Mary got up as she walked out to the courtyard by herself.

Ib sighed with relief as she heard Mary's footsteps go farther and farther into the hall. She slid down until she was sitting at the foot of her door, still gripping the red journal. She released her grasp and began writing again.


	2. Chapter 2

Mary sighed as she did another vague attempt of getting herself into the air on the new swing set placed on the lowest branch of the oak tree. The courtyard was empty, leaving Mary alone as she tried to gain some height on the swing to no avail. She was on the verge of tears but not from failing to enjoy herself on the new swing.

Ib had been acting weird for the past month. Ever since the trip to the art gallery she never treated Mary the way she used to. She became meaner, refusing to spend time with Mary and commiting all if her time into that journal and becoming even less talkative than usual. Mary didn't like this new Ib. She wanted her old sister back, the one who would draw and play with her and help her with reading and homework. Where did that Ib go?

Tears were beginning to make way down her face now. Mary didn't care as she let them fall down her cheeks, making small trails of saltwater down her face. It's bad enough that Ib's been in therapy for two weeks now, reducing the time to play with her, but now Ib wants to nothing but write in that stupid journal.

In had gotten that journal from therapy and refuses to seperate from it. It's with her everywhere she goes: at school, at the dinner table, even during the small dinner parties their parents have. Wherever Ib was, the journal was with her.

Mary ached to know what secrets were in that red book. She tried asking Ib what was in it but only got a cold glare in return. Then today she actually got hold of it, only to get locked out after being shouted at.

All Mary wanted is to find out what was wrong with Ib, and that journal is probably the best way to find out. Now if she could only get a hold of it.

It was midnight, the only time Mary could find suitable. Everyone would be asleep and she won't be expected to visit Ib this late. She crept out of her room in silence, making her way down the hall towards Ib's door. Mary stopped in the front of the door and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Was she really about to steal her sister's property? The thought made her guilty, but she needed to know what was wrong with Ib. Slowly, she turned the knob and popped her head in.

The room was dark, even with the light outside coming from the bedroom window. All the furniture made dark sillouets throughout the room. Mary opened the door wider and slipped inside, flinching when the door clicked as she closed it again.

Now where is that journal?

Mary felt her way to Ib's bedside table, now within earshot of her older sister's breathing. Her hands had begun to shake slightly as she tried to feel her way to the red notebook on the table. To her dismay, she only felt the alarm clock and a few stray pencils. Mary gave a small, disappointed sigh and tried to look around in the dim light casted by the window.

If the book want here then where-

Mary's thoughts were interrupted as she saw the edge of a red book peeking out from Ib's pillow.

You've got to be kidding.

Not only is she techically breaking and entering into Ib's room, she was now going to steal her most precious possession right under her nose, literally.

Mary drew a long sigh as she carefully took hold of the journal that's stuck beneath the weight of the sleeping girl. Slowly, the book slid out from it's hiding place into Mary's grasp. As Mary was about to make her way out, she heard a gasp from behind her, Mary froze.

Behind her, Ib was now awake and breathing hard, not noticing the presence of Mary. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Mary realized she still had time to hide before Ib became aware of her surroundings. She quickly ran into Ib's closet but didn't close it, worrying for the noise it would make, but kept it so there was only a crack in the door.

Mary stayed in a huddled position as she gripped the journal in her hands, listening as Ib's heavy breathing turned into soft sobs.

"Garry." Ib said softly, still sobbing. Guilt rose through Mary but she couldn't find out why. Was it because she stole the journal? Whatever it was, the guilt stayed as she waited for Ib to fall asleep.

It took ten minutes, which to Mary felt like hours, until the sobs changed into a small whimper, into the soft breathing that Mary had heard before. Mary quickly got up, exited the closet, and made her way to the door, stumbling slightly in the dark. When she felt the door handle, she slid out, flinched again as she heard the door click close, and ran toward her room, Ib's journal held tightly in her hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Ib immediately noticed a difference in Mary during breakfast the next morning. Mary didn't come bouncing down the stairs ready to tell everyone what she was going to do in school like she normally did. She actually didn't speak at all. Instead of being the bubbly little girl everyone knew, Mary became silent, a sad and dark aura surrounding her.

Mary's behavior worried Ib. Although Ib hated her with a burning passion, the sudden change in attitude caught her off guard. Their parents were worried as well.

The family of four sat around the dining room table in silence. They continued to eat their breakfast as they kept glancing at Mary, who didn't even touch her chocolate chip pancakes. The silence hung for several minutes until Mother spoke up.

"So, how did everybody sleep last night?" She asked in a cheerful tone, trying to lighten the mood. When nobody replied, she tried again.

"Ib, how did you sleep last night? Any good dreams?"

Ib shook her head as she stuffed a fork full of scrambled eggs in her mouth, this didn't surprise Mother at all. Ib had always been having bad dreams ever since the visit to the art gallery.

"Did you write it in your journal, for Doctor Vail?." She asked.

Ib nodded, patting the red notebook which for some reason ended up on her night stand that morning. She didn't think much of it though. Mother nodded and then turned to Mary.

"What about you Mary? Any dreams you would like to share.?"

She was again greeted with a shake of the head. This caused her cheery smile to falter. Still, she tried to start a conversation.

"Maybe both of you can tell Dr. Vail the dreams you had. He can explain them probably." She suggested. Mother turned to Father, who was concentrating on his meal.

"What do you think hon?"

"Sure, why not." Father trailed off, knowing small talk is going to get them nowhere.

Mother kept trying but everyone zoned her out as she rambled about how Dr. Vail will surely solve the mystery of the young girls' dreams. Ib mentally rolled her eyes at this. She didn't need to know what her dreams meant. Her dreams had always had the same meaning. Garry's left alone in the Gallery and Mary is not to be trusted. No one cared about that though, they always think the dreams were about loneliness and betrayal. They were right, but there was so much more to it than that.

Ib glanced at Mary again. Her head was looking down, her wild blonde curls falling in her face. All throughout breakfast, Mary hasn't looked at anyone. She just stared at her hands, not noticing the world around her. Mary also seemed to be paler as well, as if she hasn't seen the sun in weeks. Ib felt a twinge of sadness while looking at her.

_Oh Mary, what happened to you?_

**Hi everyone! I'd like to thank you for reading my first fanfic and I hope you're enjoying it. If you can please leave me a review to tell me what I should work on and what I should keep doing that would be great. Thanks again!**


	4. Chapter 4

The girls left for school a short time after breakfast, both relieved to escape the constant chattering of Mother. Their school was a short walk away, leaving them strolling down the sidewalk in silence.

Mary still hasn't looked up as she now stares at her feet as they walked, unaware of Ib staring at her. Ib wanted to say something, but she's never been one to talk, much less start a conversation. She didn't want to act like Mother that morning as she tried to lighten the mood, but she didn't want to stay silent either. What to do.

"So, um." Ib started only to fumble with her words, Mary perked her head up at the sound of Ib's voice, her wide blue eyes now looking at Ib. Now with Mary looking at her, Ib felt even more uncomfortable than she already was.

"Um, what did you dream about?" The nine year old asked, thinking back to breakfast when Mary hinted at having an odd dream.

"I don't want to talk about it." Mary stated in a stern, somewhat harsh voice. Ib was taken aback by this.

"Oh, o-okay."

At that point, Ib didn't know what to say anymore and Mary wasn't showing intrest so the attempt in small talk came to an awkward end. They were at the school entrance now, joining in with the crowd as everyone tried to get to their classes. Mary and Ib then separated as they hurried to their classrooms.

~oOo~

Throughout her lessons, Ib's thoughts kept returning to Mary and how the bubbly young girl became a depressing figure overnight. Worry was starting to take over Ib's thoughts as the day went by. By lunch time, Ib couldn't think about anything else but Mary.

She needed to get her out of her thoughts. After she had lunch and returned to her classroom for reading, she tried her best to write her book report, hoping to let her mind focus on the assignment. It was no use though, Ib's dyslexia only made the shuffled the words, turning them into nonsense.

Mentally giving up, Ib flipped to a page in the back of her journal. The page was already filled with marks and doodles, many of them roses, rabbits, and paintings from the gallery. Ib wasn't much of an artist, but she was better than most people in her class, who could only draw stick figures. She found a blank spot on the page and began doing a small sketch. At first, she was just letting her hand move freely, not having any idea on what to draw. Then, the pencil scratches became the start of a face, not a very detailed one, just a simple, smiling face. After adding hair that covered the left eye, Ib felt a sadness come over her.

_Garry_.

She really missed him, even though they only spent a short time together. She just couldn't help but think of him, how Mary betrayed him, how she had to leave him, how he was all alone in the Gallery. Ib could feel her eyes getting watery and quickly dried them so none of her classmates would ask questions.

"Doodling again, Eve?" A stern voice asked.

With a small jump, Ib looked up to see the face of her teacher, an irritated look on her face.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Eve?" Mrs. Calvin asked, not even bothering to try to pronounce Ib's name right.

"Um... I-uh." Ib tried, not looking into the eyes of her angry teacher.

"This is the fourth time this week, do I need to call your parents again?"

"N-no! Please don't, I- I'm sorry Mrs. Calvin." Ib exclaimed, thinking of how her parent would react if they got another call from the school.

Before Mrs. Calvin could say something, the classroom door burst open, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

Standing in the doorway was a small third grader, breathing heavily. His wide green eyes showing confusion and fear.

"Is this Mrs. Calvin's room?" The young boy asked between breaths.

"Yes, what is it boy?" The teacher asked, still using her stern tone.

"Mr. Yarrow sent me to get one of your students, it's an emergency!"

"Which student?"

"Ib, miss. It has to do with her sister."

Mrs. Calvin looked back and forth between the frightened third grader and Ib, who stared at him in surprise.

"Eve, your free to go, but we'll talk about your doodling habits when you get back, understood?"

"Y-yes Mrs. Calvin." Ib stuttered as she stumbled out of her desk, ignoring the curious looks of her classmates. When she reached the door, the young boy grabbed her arm and urgently rushed her down toward the third grade classes. From the hallway, Ib could here muffled screams coming from one of the classes. Fear started to creep in as, Ib was lead to the source of the screams.

_Mary, what did you do?_

**Authors Note: Hey, sorry for not updating it, I've been busy. So, what do you guys think so far? I'd appreciate it if you guys told me what you think in the reviews. Next chapter's coming soon**


	5. Chapter 5

Mary was terrified. Her trembling figure sat on the corner if the room, eyes shut and screaming in pure terror. Her blonde curls going everywhere as she held her head with one hand and clutched a pair of safety scissors, swinging wildly if anyone came near.

Her entire classroom was in a panicked state as classmates hid behind objects and friends, startled yet curious as they peeked over shoulders and edges. Their teacher, Mr. Yarrow, tried desperately to calm Mary, who was still swinging the scissors recklessly.

"Mary! It's all right! Open your eyes, please!" He pleaded but the young blonde kept going at it.

Mary couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. She couldn't keep them closed either as the visions of blue dolls, portraits, and statues came closer to her.

"Mary! Nothing is trying to hurt you! Just open your eyes!"

At this point, Mary didn't know what was worse: letting her nightmare continue, or opening her eyes and continue the life she had stolen from someone.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, stop it!" Mary yelled, swinging her scissors again, grazing Mr. Yarrow who yelled in pain. A few of the classmates screamed at the sight. Fortunately, the cut wasn't that bad, but it hurt like hell.

At this point, Ib finally made it to the room to see Mr. Yarrow bandaging his arm using the first aid kit, the entire class in the back of the room, trembling in fear, and Mary, who was still screaming.

The commotion was overwhelming, and thoughts were swirling around in Ib's head. She knew that she had to do something, but what could a nine year old do in a situation like this?

"Mary!" Ib yelled, trying to grab the blonde's attention, only to make her scream more.

"Stay away, stay away! I didn't know! I'm sorry Gary. I'm sorry!"

The name made Ib's blood turn cold.

Did she just say Garry?

"M-Mary." Ib tried again, in a much calmer tone, slowly walking over to her.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have done it! Please, Garry!"

"Mary." Ib repeated in a sterner voice. She was two feet away from Mary now. The scissors were no longer going all over the place. Mary was now holding the scissors close to her, gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white, she was on the verge of crying. A relief filled the room as Mary slowly calmed down and no longer appeared to be on the verge of killing someone. Everyone was still cautious though, the students still hid behind tables and Mr. Yarrow retreated to the back corner, nursing his cut and keeping an eye on his students. Ib was the only one near Mary now, she turned toward the door where the third grader who lead her here was still standing.

He gave her a worrying look and made a sign to go on. "Talk to her." The boy whispered.

The task seemed so simple, but when you have to confront a screaming girl with scissors, it becomes the most difficult thing in the world. Ib a deep breath, she felt like she was going to get sick.

Carefully, Ib put her hand on Mary's shoulder, ready to pull her arm back if she needed to. The gesture made Mary flinch, but she just sat there, her screaming became a whimper.

"Mary, it's me, Ib." The sound of her voice caused a slight reaction in Mary as she pushed herself away, farther back into the corner.

"G-go away."

"What were you saying about Gary earlier?" Ib tried, desperate to know what Mary knew about their experience in the gallery. At the mention of Gary, Mary screamed.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't know! I'm sorry!"

"I-it's okay. J-just relax." The tension was making Ib nervous, calming Mary in this state was bad enough, with all of those eyes looking at her behind her back, just made it even more unsettling. She took another deep breath.

"You're going to be fine, okay? You're forgiven." At those words, Mary's eyes snapped open, the fragile blue orbs now staring at Ib's crimson red ones.

"Really?" Mary asked, her voice now quiet and hoarse.

Ib nodded and the young blonde completely broke into tears. Dropping the scissors, Mary clutched on to Ib, still apologizing through sobs. Not knowing what to do, Ib awkwardly patted her head and gave Mary a weak hug.

Moments past when nurses and security finally burst through the doors, focused on the chaos that could have been heard from miles away. Anger began piling up in Ib and a few other classmates.

_Where the hell have you guys been? _

Even with some of the hateful glares given to them, the staff remained serious as the checked in Mr. Yarrow, immediately sending him down to get his arm checked and sent Mary to the principle while being watched closely by the school counselor and security. Ib followed awkwardly behind, leaving behind a classroom full of confused and terrified students and a pair of bloody scissors.

**Wow, that chapter was actually pretty long compared to the others. Anyway, I am SO SORRY I didn't post this sooner. I was going to post this the day after I posted the last chapter, but my internet connection had. Other plans. As always I hope you guys are enjoying and please write a review telling me what you guys think. I'll try to post chapters more often, starting with the next one, which should be posted in a few days. Thanks again, and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

When the news of Mary's panic attack reached the girls' parents, it was not pretty.

"What were you thinking, Mary?" Mother asked, her tone rising with every word. The family of four were out in the hallway, outside of the principle's office. Mother towered over Mary who was sitting in a chair placed against the wall, her blue eyes staring down at her shoes, not even daring to look up into her mother's fiery crimson ones.

"Not only did you terrorize your class, but you got expelled! Do you know how hard it will be to get you into a school that is as good as this one?"

Ib couldn't help but wince at Mother's voice, it was very rare to get Mother mad, but when you did, that cheery woman would turn into a demon. She kept looking back and forth from Mother and Mary. Ever since the incident that was about a half and hour ago, all Mary could say was 'I'm sorry' over and over again. She never mentioned Gary again, but it didn't stop Ib from thinking.

_She remembers! She actually remembers!_ Ib silently cursed herself as she began to feel happy that Mary now remembers the pain and horror they both witnessed.

"I don't care if your sorry, young lady. I demand you give me a reason why you decided to start screaming and swing a pair of scissors around!"

"I-I'm sorry-"

"Enough of that, it's already hard enough to have a daughter who needs therapy? I should just send you to a mental hospital!"

Ib felt a hand go on her shoulder, she looked up to see the soft brown eyes of her father.

"Ib, let's go home now." He began to lead her out the door, knowing Mother was only going to get worse over time.

"Honey," Father guided his wife's attention to him, "I think we should take the girls home now, we can talk about this later." He indicated the people roaming in the halls, staring curiously at the family.

Mother gave a long sigh as she rubbed her temples, "Fine." She pointed a finger at Mary, "We are not done with this, young lady." With that she walked away, back to her car to go back to her job in the fashion industry.

Father decided to walk the girls home, to make sure Mary wouldn't create another incident. Ib was thankful that it was Father taking them home, he hardly raised his voice at them and tries to keep orderly in a calm matter, unlike mother. The walk home was silent, Ib was holding Fathers hand, constantly sneaking glances at Mary. Mary was the same way she was this morning, looking down at her shoes looking at no one. She was no longer apologizing and just remained a dark and gloomy figure. Whatever was going on in that head of hers, Ib wanted it to stop, it was starting to scare her.

When they arrived at the house, Mary went straight to her room and locked the door,not saying a word. With Mary gone, Father bent down, now looking at Ib right In the face.

"Hey, are you going to be okay here with Mary being all...you know..." His words trailed off but Ib understood, she nodded.

"Good, I've got to go back to work now, but stay safe okay. Don't answer the door for anybody and just in case, stay in your room and make sure it's locked. Just keep that door locked whenever your in it and stay there. Only come out of your room if you really need to, okay?"

Another nod.

"Just until we can figure out what's wrong with Mary. I'll be back soon, just stay safe." He got up and waved goodbye before walking out the door, leaving Ib completely alone.

Following Father's instructions, Ib walked to her room and checked three times to make sure it was locked. She was fine the first few minutes, but she soon felt trapped. Normally, Ib was comfortable in her room but now, she felt forced to be there, not allowed to go out. Even in her spacious room, she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. She needed something to do.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her backpack. She walked over and searched its contents to find her journal. It's red cover matching Ib's eyes.

_Nothing better to do._

She grabbed a pencil, sat down and began to write.

* * *

**So this one is pretty much a filler, there will be more stuff added in the next chapter I promise. **

**I need your guys' help though, for the next chapter I'm going to need names for the parents (possibly a last name as well). If you guys can give some suggestions in the reviews that would be great. As always, I hope your enjoying and please tell me what you think, I don't know when the next chapter will come out but it won't be long I promise. See you guys later!**


	7. Chapter 7

There was no family interaction that night.

Mary never came out of her room and remained a mystery to her family. Ib only stepped out of the safety of her room when her parents came home and to bring a sandwich to eat in her new save haven. They're parents ate a small dinner in silence. The silence weighed everybody down. In a single day, a family that was considered happy, became the role models for depression.

Ib continued to write in her journal, mainly writing letters. Even though she knew they would never be sent, it gave her slight comfort to try to write to her friend lost in the world of Guertenna. Meanwhile, Mary sat in the darkness of her room, just sitting there, almost like a statue.

The two adults sat in the kitchen. Father was having his coffee like he always does after dinner and Mother just sat at the table with her hands folded, guilt shown throughout her face.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her." She said quietly, her eyes watery.

"Charlotte..." Her husband began.

"She didn't deserve the yelling, it wasn't her fault. It was just-" she pondered for a second before bowing her head in shame. "I'm a terrible mother." Tears forming paths on her cheeks.

"Charlotte, that's not true." Her husband came to her side, abandoning his coffee.

"Yes it is, Tom. First Ib and her delusions and now Mary with... What do you even call it? Her freak attack or whatever. The girls don't even hang out with each other anymore. I thought- I thought I was actually doing good with this whole parenting thing. But I-" she buried her face in her hands. "I failed."

Tom didn't know what to do. He put his arms around her, trying to comfort her as best as he could. Why is this even happening? Tom had known his wife since the fifth grade, and he would've never thought he would here her say that she failed. Everything was going just fine until Ib started acting up and began talking about a fictional man who helped her escape the art gallery a month ago.

"You're a wonderful mother, Charlotte." Tom tried after moments of silence. "It's not your fault, and the girls don't blame you. This is just one of those family issues, we'll manage." To be honest, Tom had no idea how they will manage this, but what on earth was he supposed to say.

"How?" The simple word made Tom tense. He knew she was going to ask that.

"We can talk to Dr. Vail... yeah. He's been helping with Ib, and she's been doing better. He could help with Mary too." The suggestion made his wife perk up a bit.

"You're right," she got up wiping tears from her eyes. "I should call him, maybe we can get him to take Mary in tomorrow since he already has Ib scheduled." She immediately grabbed her mobile from the kitchen counter, hope shown in her eyes. The sight made Tom smile; that's the wife he knew and loved.

The next afternoon, Mary and her parents stood next to the door of the office of Doctor Ezekiel Vail. Ib was at school and will be picked up for her appointment with the therapist later on. Even though she was distant yesterday, Mary clung to her father's leg as if she was once again five about to embark on her first day of school.

"You'll be alright, Mary." Father comforted his youngest daughter, patting her on the head. The eight-year-olds grip on his leg remained. Mary's reaction was much different then Ib's on her first day of therapy. Ib, the independent one of the two, was nervous but managed to follow Dr. Vail into the office with little hesitation.

The office door opened revealing a girl around the age of six walk out and go toward the family of four sitting out in the hall. Halfway there, she turned around and waved, "Bye Dr. Vail!" She gave a toothy smile before skipping the rest of the way down the hall, brown pigtails bouncing.

"Goodbye Ruth! See you next week." A figure appeared out of the doorway and waved back to the young girl before turning his attention toward Mary and her parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kouri." The figure shook the parent's hands, a wide smile on his face. "I have to admit, I was surprised when you called me last night." The three adults had a short conversation that Mary couldn't really understand and didn't really care about.

"And you must be Mary." The therapist kneeled down to Mary's height and gave her a warm smile.

"I'm Dr. Vail, your sister has been seeing me for the past week or so." He extended his hand only for Mary to back away slightly. Noticing her anxiety, he quickly dropped the hand and scratched his beard in thought. A few seconds passed.

"Do you like coloring, Mary?"

She gave a small nod.

"I have some crayons and colored pencils in my office, we can color if you want."

The blonde curls nodded again.

With the warm smile still on his face, he rose to full height and gestured to the door. "After you, Mary." Reluctantly, she followed the therapist through the door.

"Lemon candy?" Dr. Vail offered holding out a bowl of the assorted yellow treats. The sight made Mary feel sick, she didn't know why though. She quickly shook her head.

"Alright then. It's funny, your sister is practically obsessed with these." He set the bowl down and wrote a quick note in his notebook before pulling out papers and crayons and setting them on the table. Mary stood awkwardly near the entrance unsure what to do, her thoughts wandering from the sickening feeling of seeing lemon candy to the thought of Ib.

"You gave Ib that journal, right?" She asked quietly, her first words ever since she got home yesterday. The thought of the red journal gave her a depressing feeling.

"Yes, why?" Dr. Vail replied, readjusting his glasses. Instinctively, he grabbed his notebook and a pen, ready to write.

Mary shifted her weight from foot to foot, refusing to look the therapist in the eye. After a few seconds of silence, she finally forced herself to continue. "Do you know what she writes in it?"

"Well, yes but I can't share it. Sorry, it's a privacy thing."the doctor said with an apologetic smile.

"I already know what it says." The smile fell.

"You know she doesn't mean it right? She's just having a rather large imagination that is turning you into the bad guy. She doesn't actually want you to be wiped off from the edge of the earth. Her head is just making her think those thoughts are real. We both know that you are not a painting and that you've never hurt anyone named Garry."

"I did though!" The outburst left Dr. Vail in silence, staring at Mary.

"I did come from the gallery, and I was a painting. I killed Garry and took his place in the real world. I deserve to be wiped from existence!"

Dr. Vail winced at the girl's words. This was worst than he thought. When Mrs. Kouri called him, he simply thought that Mary was going through stress and anxiety due to Ib's behavior with her, but this was nothing like it. Now Mary is believing all of this?

Dr Vail somehow managed to get Mary calmed down and tell him about the gallery while she colored. Many of her stories were like the ones Ib had told: the portraits of woman, the blue dolls, headless statues, and Garry. Vail made a mental note on how Garry seems to be a trigger for both girls: Ib feeling sadness and gaining a hostile anger towards her sister, and Mary who goes into a state of depression and is consumed by fear and guilt. This was a topic Vail decided to study more.

By the end of the session, Mary had given Dr. Vail a puzzle to solve.

"I think it went pretty well today." He informed Mr. and Mrs. Kouri who had picked up Ib on during Mary's session. "I suggest bringing her back again, right before Ib's appointment, like today." The parents both eagerly agreed, already seeing this as the first step to their family being whole again.

With that, Dr. Vail waved Mary goodbye and invited Ib to come in, offering a lemon candy. Ib accepted it and Mary's uneasy feeling returned. She ignored it though as she followed her parents out the door.

Mr. and Mrs. Kouri were obviously happy. To them, this was the first step to recovery. Their family will soon return to normal and things would work out. To Dr. Vail, this was the start of a puzzle that may be impossible to complete.

**And that was chapter 7. This chapter was a challenge. I finished it then decided to rewrite the whole thing again. Oh well. Thank you to everyone who suggested names and surnames for the family, I'm grateful for that. I'd also like to thank everyone for reading this and giving me reviews, they always make my day. Anyway, working on chapter eight right now, so that should be out soon. That's it from me, bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

Tom rubbed his eyes as he squinted the dimmed light of the laptop, the blueish light reflecting across his face. He had made himself comfortable in the living room couch, one hand scrolling through the web pages, the other holding a cup of coffee, it's contents quickly being drained.

Charollette suggested they start looking for a new school for Mary and had made Tom do it while she tries to talk to Mary, Tom could sense that Charolette was still feeling guilty about the whole incident.

Three hours past and drowsiness was already showing in Tom's actions. His breathing was slowing, he skimmed through sentences about the many schools the area had to offer, not even paying attention to half of them. He hated searching for schools, when Ib was about to start school he made sure he chose a school that would be best for her and Mary. Now, he has to search again, it was much harder this time since now he had to think about how Mary would react in places.

When he realized that he wasn't even focusing on the schools anymore, Tom opened a new window in his browser. Dr. Vail hasn't said much about Mary's therapy session except a few ideas on what had happened. The small info wasn't enough for him and Charolette though, they needed to know what was going on with their younger daughter and if something like the incident happened again. He typed in panic attacks, the first thing that Dr. Vail had mentioned. After a quick search, he found a pretty informative website.

**Panic Attacks**

_In many cases, panic attacks strike unexpectedly without any warning. Many attacks happen for no clear reason but studies say that there may have been a trigger action that cause some attacks. _

This made sense so far, but do people who get panic attacks start lashing out violently?

_Symptoms of panic attacks involve shortness of breath or hyperventilation, racing heart, discomfort or pain in the chest, trembling, shaking, nausea, the fear of-_

"Dad?" A small voice called coming in from the hall. Tom looked up to see crimson red eyes staring at him. He gave a small smile.

"Hey Ib, what's the matter?" He checked the time on the laptop: 11:45. "You shouldn't be up this late."

"What are you doing?" His oldest daughter changed the subject, walking over towards him on the couch. She sat next to him and glanced at the computer screen.

"Panic attacks involve shortness of breath and hy...hyperv... Um." Ib tried as she read the info in the screen.

"Hyperventilation." Tom pronounced knowing that Ib's dyslexia was not going easy on her.

"Is this what happened to Mary?" The crimson eyes staring at Tom again. Sometimes he disliked how Ib was so much like her mother at times: always asking him questions with those red eyes.

"Maybe, Dr. Vail is still looking into it, but this is the closest thing we have. Here, you wanna look? Since you were there maybe you can see if any of these match Mary's behavior." He moved the screen toward Ib as she read aloud, helping her with words along the way.

"Panic attacks may occur due to other di...disorders such as panic disorder, social phobias, or de..."

"Depression" Tom finished, silently praising Ib for reading half of the article. "So, does that sound like what happened with Mary?"

Ib nodded a little, slowly dosing off. She began leaning on him, her eyes getting heavy.

"Why are you up so late anyway?" Tom asked again now checking the clock. It showed 11:55.

"I wanted to know what you and mother have been doing." She replied yawning.

"Well, your mother tried talking to Mary but is probably in bed by now, and I'm just searching what may have happened and a new school for Mary. It's much harder now that Mary is now..." He stopped, there was no way he was going to call his daughter crazy.

"Since she is now...?" Those red eyes again, always looking at him questioningly.

"Nothing, your father is just worried about her that's all." He wrapped arm around Ib, as she leaned into her fathers embrace.

"I'm worried too."

**Okay, finally done with that. Another chapter posted! Woohoo! I'm afraid these are going to be harder to work on I since school just started but I'll try to post as often as I can. So I decided to add a bit more of Ib into the story since she kind of seems forgotten, hope you guys enjoyed. The next chapter is actually going to have some progression with the story, I promise. Until then, enjoy this chapter. Bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yo, it's been almost a year since I've posted anything on here, sorry about that! A lot has happened throughout the year and I haven't had time to focus on this story, and in truth I was planning on never finishing because of that, but now things have settled immensely and I had recently gotten a message that inspired me to keep writing. So thank you Vanilla n' Cocoa for getting me back on track. Hope you guys enjoy!**

The next day, Ib walked to school alone. Both her parents and the school board thought it was best for Mary to stay home for a while. Ib was fine with it. Despite it still being there, the stress and conflicting thoughts that had recently consumed Ib seemed to lessen when Mary wasn't right beside her.

When she got to school however, things changed. By then, everyone had heard about the incident. Children and teachers alike kept glancing at Ib when she was in class. Even Mrs. Calvin gave Ib a worried look in class while her peers whispered behind her. The whole school knew the little nine year old girl with the crazy sister.

Ib wanted nothing more than to disappear into thin air. No matter where she looked she would see her peers quickly look away, only for her to feel another pair of eyes behind her. They were like the paintings that followed your every move. And then when it's all quiet and dark they'll come out of their frames and-

Ib jerked awake, her heart racing, her head swerving around, searching through her foggy vision to see where the next painting will come from. It took her a few moments to realize she had fallen asleep during her reading test. Must've been because she stayed up so late last night. She looked around. For once no one was looking at her, they were all to busy staring at their tests to pay her any mind. It didn't shake off the fear she still had. In the back of her mind, the paintings were still there, just waiting for the perfect time to strike. She wished Garry was here.

_Garry_.

Tears started to form in Ib's eyes. Garry would keep her safe. Sure, it's not like he would scare off all the paintings, but he made things feel okay, he made Ib feel safe. Rubbing the tears out of her eyes, Ib tried to continue her test, but her mind was still going back to Garry.

_Garry, please come back._

**So this was very short compared to some of the other things I've written, but I hope you guys enjoyed. I'll try to actually stick to this story and upload more. If there is anything you guys think I can do better in or anything I should do with this story, please tell me by sending me a review! Thank you guys for sticking with me and I'll have another chapter coming soon!**


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